Visions of Utica: The City in Oils by Paul Parker, 1952-1968

A new exhibit opens this summer featuring iconic scenes of Utica’s past from artist Paul Parker, former chair of the Art Department at Hamilton College. This show, on loan and in collaboration with the Paul Parker Utica Trust, offers a rare window into a city that exists now only in "misty memory" and oil on canvas. Parker described these works as "ghosts of our common past." He wanted to create a historical record to be preserved for the benefit of a future generation. This exhibit highlights scenes of Utica captured by Parker between 1952 and 1968, just before urban renewal transformed the city’s skyline forever. These iconic images mostly depict a Utica that no longer exists, serving as a nostalgic homecoming for long-time residents and a history lesson for visitors and post-urban-renewal Uticans. Paul Parker (1905-1987) was a distinguished artist and educator. He was born in LaGrange, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago. He later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy of Art. He made significant contributions to the arts and academia during his career. This included his tenure as the head of the Art Department at the University of South Dakota and directorships at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the Des Moines Art Center. Parker moved to central New York and was a professor of art at Hamilton College from 1948 until 1970. Parker’s work was exhibited throughout the U.S., including at the New York World's Fair, the Carnegie International, and the Denver Art Museum. Locally, he had shows at Colgate University, Kirkland Art Center, and Utica College. Palazzo Public, a 1955 watercolor, and Street Scene, a 1951 oil on canvas, are in the MUNSON art museum’s permanent collection.